Abstract/Summary

U-Pb dating of detrital zircons shows that the provenance of Cretaceous-Palaeogene
sandstones on Hatton and Edoras banks (SW Rockall Plateau) comprises magmatic rocks
dated at c. 1800 Ma and c. 1750 Ma respectively. Their depositional setting, first-cycle
mineralogy and unimodal nature detrital zircon populations suggest these sandstones are of
local origin. The zircon age data are therefore considered to provide constraints on these
poorly-understood areas of the Rockall Plateau. The U-Pb dates are directly comparable with
U-Pb zircon crystallisation ages from granitoid rocks reported from the Ketilidian Belt of
southern Greenland and from the Rhinns Complex of western Britain. Hf isotopic data from
the Edoras Bank sample are consistent with derivation from a juvenile Palaeoproterozoic
block. In conjunction with previously reported Sm-Nd TDM model ages from the Ketilidian
Belt, Rockall Bank and the Rhinns Complex, these data extend the known distribution of a
large juvenile Palaeoproterozoic terrane spanning the southern NE Atlantic. By contrast, Hf
isotopic data from the Hatton Bank sample imply a large contribution from Archaean crust.
The zircon population from Edoras Bank also contains sparse Mesoproterozoic grains,
providing evidence for the presence of volumetrically minor Grenville-age intrusions in the
southern part of the Rockall Plateau.